Tabligh-Jamaat's factional clash leaves over 200 injured

Over 200 people were injured in a clash between two factions of Tabligh-Jamaat on Saturday over establishing supremacy on Ijtema Maidan on the bank of the river Turag.    

The incitement that was originated between the supporters of Hefajot follower Tabligh Jamaat leader Moulana Jubair Hassan and top leader of Tabligh Jamaat Maulana Saad Kandhalv in the morning turned into a bloody clash at noon. 

More than 200 injured people were admitted to Tongi Ahsan Ullah Master Health Complex, said Dr. Komor Uddin, a physician of the health complex, adding that among them, 18 injured were shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with critical condition.  

Meanwhile, a section of Tabligh-Jamaat men blocked a single lane of Airport Road since morning following the clash, creating in heavy traffic gridlock in the area. 

For last couple of days, anti-Saad group have taken position on the Ijtema Maidan in Tongi, said the traffic inspector adding that the clash ensued on Saturday morning when the followers of Maulana Saad tried to enter the ground.

The conflict between the two factions continued from the last session of Biswa Ijtema, Tabligh Jamaat’s annual event and the largest Muslim congregation after the hajj.

The groups locked into another clash over the conflict at Dhaka’s Kakrail Mosque, the headquarters of the religious group’s Bangladesh chapter, in April last.